The Barclays Premier league is like no other league in the world. Some might not agree; the style in general is not as flashy as Spanish football or as technical as German football. The difference is that on any given day any team can beat any team. Case in point Stoke beating champions City at the weekend. Now you could say but Madrid also lost to so called weaker opposition. This happens very rarely unlike the Premier league where it could happen every week. Crystal Palace last season beat Chelsea as well as came back from 3-0 down to draw against Liverpool. This brings me to another point, if I ask you who will win La Liga this season, 3 teams come to mind, Barcelona, Madrid and Atletico. It’s the same with the Bundesliga, Bayern, Dortmund and maybe Schalke. The French league is dominated by PSG and the same with Juventus in Serie A. now when I mention Premier league at least 5 names pop up straight away; City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and United could all win it.
Then you have to look at teams that could make top 4 and fill champion’s league spots and the list grows considerably; Spurs, Everton, Southampton and possibly Newcastle could make it. That leaves you with 9 teams that all could realistically make top 4. This leads to very competitive games week in and week out. The mid table and relegation battles are often more exciting than top of the league encounters. That I think is the difference between the Premier League and the rest of the world. Yes El Classico is an amazing game to watch as well as Dortmund and Bayern but that’s about it. The lower teams especially in the Spanish league are not that exciting to watch. Even bottom of the table games in the Premier league are exciting. Not to mention them giving the so called giants a run every once in a while. Brendan Rodgers summed it up perfectly last season when he said that every game is a big game in this league. This brings me to another point, so called star players not performing in the Prem.
A lot of players have come in to light up the premier league but did they start out that way? Torres, Drogba, Suarez, Rooney, Owen, Ronaldo the list goes on of world class players that were born in the premier league. None of these players were, to my knowledge, stars before coming to the premier league. They gained their stardom playing for their respective teams. Often teams will buy players who are rated as average who end up thrilling and become stars. One name stands out though; Diego Costa was a star at Atletico and has instantly lit up the Prem for Chelsea. Ozil, Sanchez and Di Maria have not been the super stars they were for their Barca and Madrid although the latter has only played one game. The pace and physicality of the Premier league are like no other and you have to be at your very peak to shine in this league. I don’t think it will be an easy transition for players like Di Maria and Falcao who come with massive talent and expectation.
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